My Healthy, Weekly Shopping List

In my previous blogs, I have talked about my diet and the important nutrients needed for optimum health. In this blog I will talk more about what I eat and why. No pills, not even aspirin, and certainly no supplements ever enter my mouth -- everything I need comes from my fish and vegetarian diet, which incorporates many different kinds of fruit and vegetables every week.

Even though I am Chairman of Dole Food Company, I do most of my own grocery shopping. Below I provide an example of a partial grocery list of what I might buy in any given week. Most of this is weekly. More to come -- in my next blog I will give you an addendum that will break this down into component parts to know what to eat for five days of the week.

EGG WHITES (three) are a fat-free source of protein, providing 21% of the daily requirement and 27% selenium.

ALMONDS are the top nut source of alpha-tocopherol, a potent form of vitamin E (35%), plus 30% manganese, 20% magnesium and 8% calcium.

Obviously this is only a partial list of what I eat every week. It may seem like a lot of food, but I juice fruits and vegetables every day. Also, I expend a lot of calories every day in my 50-60 minutes of cardio and strength training, most days of the week.

At the North Carolina Research Campus we are constantly doing research on all fruit and vegetables, including the ones listed above. It is the only campus in the world encompassing eight universities all working together for the benefit of health and longevity. These include Duke University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina A&T State University, University of North Carolina Greensboro, and Appalachian State University. We've gathered a comprehensive array of famous scientists and scientific equipment under one roof, including a two-story, 950 megahertz, 8-ton superconducting magnet. It is the largest and most powerful magnet in the world and is helping us look at both plant and human cells at the most minute level.

One of my missions in life is to share this kind of knowledge with others, so they can live more vital, active, satisfying lives. Since acquiring major interests in Dole Food Company 28 years ago, educating the public on proper diet has constituted the agenda of the Dole Nutrition Institute. We publish the Dole Nutrition News -- enjoyed by 2.5 million subscribers (sign up at dole.com), and our Dole Nutrition Handbook.